Spiritual Gifts part 216: Jesus came to seek and save the lost.

Spiritual Gifts Part 216: Jesus came to seek and save the lost.

This man was a prominent Jewish official, extremely wealthy, and a young unmarried man in his 20’s or 30’s.

He wanted the young man to realize that there was no way he could ever achieve what he wanted , gain life on the basis of his good works.

Instead He gave the young man an impossible assignment that would make the point far more powerfully.

Our Lord purposely set out the challenge to reveal the deceitfulness and self-centered nature of the human heart.

Stop here and this encounter with the Rich Young Man looks an awful lot like the basis for a moral injunction.

GAL 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.

At that moment, in my inner chaos, I recognize that I am the rich young man.

This story invites us to go into the death of the cross.

And as they walk, Jesus begins to tell them about His death and His rising again.

I am the rich young man.
And the only way out is the crucified and risen Christ - who lives in me, and I in Him.

The cross is a burden to us in the same way that wings are a burden to an eagle, or sails to a ship.

This time it is a man by the name of Zaccheus. He is also rich. He is the rich older man.

This rich one is older and wiser. So he does not go away sad but he keeps going on ahead until something from God is provided for him.

The rich young man grieved at this point because he is afraid that he may never be able to change himself in this area. The possibility mortified him.

On the other hand, Zaccheus was a tax collector. A chief sinner. So he was totally convinced that he could not change himself.

Sometimes we just have to notice how Jesus is looking at us.

Rich young man	Christ's dying and rising foretold	Rich older man